


In the Closet in the Lab

by acepotter (ardenpotter)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coming Out, Gay Harley Keener, Gay Peter Parker, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23561344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardenpotter/pseuds/acepotter
Summary: "Hi, I'm Peter." Harley tried not to blush as Peter took his hand in his surprisingly firm grip, shaking it briefly before returning to the lab table he'd been working at."H- Harley. Nice to meet you."Harley suppressed the shiver that threatened to run through his shoulders and down his spine. He couldn't afford to feel like this. Especially not about Tony's intern, who he'd apparently be living with from now on.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 117





	In the Closet in the Lab

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I know I need to work on my other story but this has been in my head for ages, I couldn't not write it! Updates will probably not be as regular since I'm prioritising my other story right now.

“So, this is the penthouse, where you’ll be living. Living room, kitchen, common area. You’ve got your own bedroom; your room is next to my intern’s room so if you ever need anything, I’m sure he’d be happy to help. I think the two of you will get along well.”

God, Tony had no idea just how right he was.

Harley nodded along as Tony showed him around the Tower. He smiled as he looked around his new home. He and Tony had kept in touch since the whole Mandarin fiasco. At first Harley had tried to keep the abuse a secret. He’d hidden bruises on Skype calls and carefully avoided any mention of his mother’s drinking and fits of rage. But this was Tony Stark. It’s impossible to hide anything from Tony Stark.

“Follow me, we’ll get you settled into your room and then you can meet Peter.” Harley guessed Peter was the famous intern he kept hearing about. He hadn’t asked why Tony’s intern lived with him. He knew first hand Tony’s tendency of taking in stray kids, so he figured it was personal. Maybe he’d find out once he got to know this intern a bit better.

“Peter’s around the same age as you, a few months younger,” Tony’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He’s kind of anxious, so try not to take it personally if he runs away from you or… something like that.” Harley giggled quietly at the mental image of a sixteen-year-old boy running away from him in fear. “He’ll warm up to you soon enough, it just takes him a while. Here we are.”

Harley looked around the room in awe as he dropped his backpack on the king-sized bed. The room was big. Certainly, the biggest bedroom he had ever seen, and on the left side of the room he could see an open door that led through to what looked like a bathroom.

“It’ a little bland at the moment,” Tony said apologetically. You can decorate it however you like, ask FRIDAY to help you order whatever you want. Peter can probably help you too. I don’t really know what teenage boys like, I mean I know what Peter likes but Peter’s… well, Peter’s Peter.”

The more Harley learned about this Peter, the more he wanted to know. He knew that he was his age, sixteen. He figured he must be a genius to have landed a spot as Tony Stark’s personal intern. And he knew just from the way Tony talked that he was important to Tony.

“Thanks, old man,” Harley grinned, slipping into their usual banter.

“Whatever, short stuff, just come down to the lab when you’re ready I’ll introduce you to Peter.” Tony walked out the door.

“I’m taller than you, you geriatric asshole!” Harley shouted after him. He didn’t get a response. Harley sighed, a smile spreading over his face. He was so unbelievably happy right now. He was out of Rose Hill, away from his mother, away from the bullies, away from the homophobes.

He frowned at the thought. Tony didn’t know. He should have told him, before he did all this for him and took guardianship of him. But he couldn’t. He finally had a family. He had two people who cared about him and had promised to look after him, to give him the home he hadn’t had since he father had left when he was six. He wasn’t about to screw that all up by telling them he was… he was…

He’d only said it out loud once. Back home in Rose Hill. But that once had been enough.

_“Mom, I’m… I’m gay.”_

Harley chuckled. It was stupid of him to think that would ever go well, out in butt fuck nowhere Tennessee where the local schools refused to even teach the theory of evolution because it was “an attack on God”.

“Would you like me to help you find your way to the lab, Mr. Keener?” Harley jumped at FRIDAY’s metallic Irish accent coming through the speakers in the ceiling.

“Er- yes, please. Thank you.” Harley walked out of his room, glancing at the door next to his that had a sign on it reading “Peter’s Room” in the Star Wars font. So this intern liked Star Wars. Boy, Harley would have to get this kid onto Star Trek. They simply could not be friends otherwise. Harley made his way towards the elevator, FRIDAY automatically shutting the doors and taking him to the floor below that housed Tony’s personal lab.

He stepped out of the elevator to find Tony working at his lab bench with a young-looking boy. Peter, he assumed, although he didn’t look sixteen. They two were hunched over what looked like a blueprint displayed on the screen of Tony’s Stark tablet, but the moment they noticed him the boy’s eyes widened and Tony rushed to shut it down before he could even get a peek. Interesting. Harley would have to investigate that later.

“Harley!” Tony said quickly, clearly trying to divert his attention from whatever they had just been looking at. “This is my intern Peter. Peter, this is Harley, he’s an idiot from Tennessee.”

Harley turned his attention to Peter. And by God, if he wasn’t the prettiest person Harley had ever seen in his life. His brown curls falling over his wide eyes set in a face that looked far too mature for his general expression. Hell, this kid had better cheekbones than most male models Harley had seen.

“Hi. Hi I’m Peter.” Peter’s voice was soft and nervous. He was probably a little freaked out by the staring, Harley realised. He shook his head a little to clear the thoughts. He couldn’t be thinking like that, especially not about Tony’s intern, who he was now living with.

Especially if he didn’t want Tony to find out and kick him out. Or worse.

“Hey, I’m Harley.” Harley walked forward and held out his hands. And Harley could swear he’d never felt as flustered as when Peter stepped forward and took his hand in his surprisingly firm grip, shaking it briefly before moving back to Tony’s side. Their eyes never left each other’s.

“Alright,” Tony’s voice interrupted their little staring contest. “I actually have a meeting that starts in twenty minutes, and I think Pepper may murder if I turn up dressed like this, so I should head up and get ready.” Tony clapped Peter on the shoulder as he picked up his tablet and moved to leave. Harley could have sworn he saw some sort of silent exchange go on between the two when Peter looked up at Tony.

“You two get to know each other. You’re both nerds I’m sure you can find something to talk about or entertain yourselves with until I get back. I’ll be back for dinner; I’ll bring Thai how’s that sound?” Both boys nodded and smiled in agreement.

“Sounds good Mr. Stark,” Peter said as Tony made his way towards the elevator. Tony glared slightly at Peter. Harley remembered him doing the same to him years ago when Harley tried to call him Mr. Stark once or twice.

“Don’t blow up my lab!” With those parting words, the elevator doors closed with a ding, leaving the two teenagers alone in the lab. They avoided each other’s eyes, determinedly looking anywhere but each other. Peter was the first to break the awkward silence.

“So… you like science?” Harley looked up at the other boy, trying not to spend too much time looking into his eyes. What was a normal amount of eye contact? It was creepy if he just stared at his eyes, right? Harley scolded himself internally. He talked to other people all the time. He was quite good at it, in fact. How much eye contact did he normally make with them? This was definitely too much eye contact now. Harley turned away slightly, moving to look around the lab.

“Yeah. I mean Tennessee, there’s not many opportunities in science I suppose. But Tony built me my own little lab in my garage after we met. I like building stuff. More of a mechanic than a scientist really.” Harley cursed himself. He was rambling like an idiot now. He couldn’t help it. It seemed that being around Peter left his with zero self-control. He was approaching dangerous territory now. He could not afford to develop a crush. He couldn’t handle Tony kicking him out. Peter’s voice interrupted his internal crisis.

“That’s so cool! I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Stark said you make these awesome potato guns!” Jesus. Of course, Tony had to tell him that.

“Well I mean, it’s just mucking around I suppose. It’s kind of fun though,” Harley grinned a little despite himself. “If you don’t mind me asking…” Harley paused hesitantly for a second, hoping he wasn’t overstepping some sort of boundary. He didn’t know the other boy that well, after all. They’d met not five minutes ago. “Why do you call Tony Mr. Stark? Isn’t he your… guardian? Or something? I mean you live here, so I just assumed, I’m sorry I-” Peter cut off his embarrassed rambling with a quiet giggle, and Harley couldn’t help but smile slightly at the sound. He was going to make sure he was the reason for that sound more often.

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” Peter grinned, a little amused by Harley’s nervousness. “I don’t know it just feels weird calling him anything else. He’s always been Mr. Stark,” Peter explained thoughtfully. “Plus,” he added, “It makes him really mad, it’s kind of funny.” Peter grinned mischievously and Harley couldn’t stop the surprised laugh that escaped. So Peter had a cheeky side. Harley wanted to see more of it.

“If you want,” Peter said, turning to look at all the building materials and tools on the wall. “We could try building a high-tech potato gun?” Harley grinned.

It only took an hour for the subject to come up. Harley had been so terrified of someone finding out his secret since he got to New York that he almost turned and ran out of the lab. But he figured that would seem a little suspicious, so he didn’t do that.

Peter and Harley had been working in silence for about half an hour, after going through all the boring small talk, likes and dislikes, favourite foods and whatnot.

“So, you like watching movies?” Peter asked awkwardly. “I mean, we’re going to be living together and everything we could like. I don’t know try and become… friends or something. If you want to, that is.” Harley grinned, relieved he wasn’t the one stammering like a fool this time. Not that he could ever think Peter was a fool. Peter had proved in the last hour that he was probably the smartest person Harley had ever met in his life. Harley was betting he’d give Tony a run for his money when he was a little older and had a college degree or two under his belt.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Harley answered, trying not to think about why he was so excited at the prospect of spending time with Peter.

“Well I mean, Mr. Stark won’t be back for…” Peter rolled up his sleeve and looked down at his watch, which appeared to be some fancy high-tech watch Harley thought was probably built by Mr. Stark himself. He’d certainly never seen anything like it in a shop.

“He’ll be back in about four hours or so, it’s only like, one. There’s a really cool little theatre a couple blocks away, we could check out what’s showing?” Peter picked up his phone to search up what was playing this afternoon.

“Yeah, that sounds good!” Harley said, putting down his tools and wiping the grease off his calloused hands. A movie sounded perfect. Harley had always loved the little theatre back home in Tennessee, but after his mother outed him to the whole town… well, let’s just say public spaces like the theatre were no longer safe for him. Not that his mother would have let him go anyway.

Harley shook those thoughts out of his head, moving forward to sit opposite Peter at the lab bench.

“Okay,” Peter looked up from his phone screen. “There are a few options, they all look pretty decent actually!” Peter grinned. “There Avatar?” Harley couldn’t help the grimace that crossed his face. Peter laughed. “Yeah not my favourite movie in the world either, there’s some documentary on Captain America which we’ve probably both seen in school a million times.”

Harley nodded. There was nothing American high schools loved more than showing their students every single Captain America documentary that had ever been made. The righteous man with a plan, America’s national icon, with his patriotism and 1940’s conservatism he was deemed the perfect role model.

“Yeah, I’ll pass on that one thanks,” Harley snorted. Peter giggled, and Harley felt that same strange feeling he felt the first time. It was quickly becoming his favourite sound in the world.

“Love, Simon is showing soon. If we hurry, we could make it in time.”

Harley almost fell off his stool. He could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears. Why had Peter suggested that particular movie? Did he somehow know? Was he obvious? Harley was fairly masculine, not that he believed in stereotypes, but he certainly didn’t think he was obvious about it. What if he told Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark was going to kick him out. Or maybe he’d just start hurting him like his mother and everyone else in his conservative hick town had done. Vaguely Harley was aware that he was on the verge of hyperventilating, but he couldn’t stop it.

“How- how did- why… are you- please don’t, I don’t- what.” Harley was aware he was stuttering nonsense and Peter probably thought he was an idiot but his hands were shaking and he couldn’t breathe and he could barely even hear himself over the pounding of his heart in his ears. He managed to focus enough to look up at Peter. He looked… frightened. Terrified, possibly even more so than Harley was feeling right now.

“I’m sorry,” Peter blurted out. Wait, why was Peter apologising?

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… I mean I know you’re from Tennessee I didn’t even think…” Peter trailed off. Harley stopped in his tracks. Peter didn’t think he was gay. Peter thought he was homophobic. And he looked terrified. Was it possible?

No. No of course not. Harley shook that thought quickly from his head, unwilling to get his hopes up when he knew they would just be crushed.

“Sorry,” Harley managed to choke out. His breathing had started to calm, his heart still pounding but now quiet enough that he could hear himself think again. Peter was still watching him from across the table, eyes wide and cautious. Harley hurried to reassure him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean… I’m not-” Harley ran his hands through his hair in frustration, cursing himself as Peter stepped back slightly as if preparing to run. From Harley. He had caused this. Harley had never hated himself more. Part of his brain was still wondering if the reason Peter was so offended by his reaction was that-

No. Maybe Peter had a friend who was. This was New York, after all, Harley knew that it wasn’t the same here as it was back in Tennessee. Harley straightened himself on the lab stool.

“Sorry,” he said again, looking Peter in the eyes. “Like you said, I’m from Tennessee, it’s not the same over there.” Harley’s words only made Peter step back a little further, a little anger now shining through the fear. “No! that’s not what I meant, I mean the other people, where I’m from. Not me! I don’t- I would never care about that, I’m not…” Harley trailed off, huffing in frustration as he tried to find the right words while also being wary of giving himself away.

“I was just surprised.” Harley looked at Peter who seemed to have stilled, but still hadn’t relaxed. “I was surprised is all,” Harley continued. “I mean, if someone said that in my town… it just wouldn’t happen. I don’t care about… that, though. I mean not that- I mean I’m,” Harley sighed. He was really making a mess of this.

“I’d love to see Love, Simon. I’ve never seen it but it sounds great.” Harley smiled at Peter, hoping to convey that he really did want to see the movie. Peter seemed to relax a little, but his shoulders remained tensed.

“It’s fine, we don’t have to see it. I get it, you’re not comfortable with that.” Peter almost threw his tools down on the table and walked over to the toolbox, grabbing a wrench and tightening the bolts Harley knew he’d tightened not two minutes ago.

“No!” Harley moved towards Peter slightly, stopping in his tracks when Peter stopped what he was doing to glare at him.

“No, I want to see it!” Harley insisted, his eyes wide and earnest. “Really, I’d love to. I’m not uncomfortable with it, just…” Harley deflated slightly. “Just not used to it,” He finished quietly. Peter’s expression seemed to ease up a little.

“Okay. If you’re sure. We’d have to leave now.” Peter walked out of the lab, not waiting for Harley to catch up. Harley sighed. His first day and he’d already managed to piss off Tony’s cute intern. He rushed after Peter, determined to get back to the friendly conversation and easy joking they’d had since he arrived.

Because he had to live with Peter, and it would be awkward and miserable if he hated him. That was all. No other reason.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Hoping to update fairly soon. Ace x


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